


Let Me Be Your Canvas

by hongbab



Category: VIXX
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tattoos, not as fluffy as it could be but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 13:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11105292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hongbab/pseuds/hongbab
Summary: Wonshik thinks he’s probably smiling, because Jaehwan apparently smiles a lot and Wonshik, a brooding, always negative and anxious person, thinks it’s like a breath of fresh air seeing Jaehwan smile so easily at everything.





	Let Me Be Your Canvas

Wonshik didn’t really know what he should have expected when he called Sanghyuk to book an appointment at the shop, but this was definitely _not_ it.

Not _him_ , really.

Sanghyuk did tell him that they hired a new artist after Jaeeun had gone on maternity leave, and he also told him the new artist was called Jaehwan, supposedly an amazing professional, but, for some reason, Wonshik imagined a burly, hairy guy with too many piercings in weird parts of his face and maybe tattoos on his eyelids, and now, as he looks into Jaehwan’s eyes, he feels unable to say a thing.

“Hey,” Jaehwan smiles with the whitest teeth Wonshik has ever seen, his plump lips stretching way too wide on his small, hairless, piercingless face. “I’m Jaehwan.” He reaches out to shake Wonshik’s hand, his bony fingers smeared with charcoal. Wonshik looks down at his hand, blinking. “And you are Wonshik, right?”

“Yeah. Wonshik.”

He hears Sanghyuk snort behind the reception counter and Wonshik feels his face heat up, embarrassment washing over him in waves as Jaehwan’s smile becomes brighter.

“Shall we?” Jaehwan asks and starts walking to his corner of the shop, sitting down on a chair that used to be Jaeeun’s, patting the other one next to him. “Take a seat.”

Wonshik does as he is told, eyes not leaving Jaehwan.

“So, you told Sanghyuk you’d like a hollyhock on your shoulder blade, right?” Jaehwan asks, turning a page in his sketchbook, hiding what seems to be a cutely drawn kitten from Wonshik. “I did have to look that one up,” Jaehwan laughs softly, kindly. “I’m not very well-educated about flowers.” He taps a little on his tablet, bringing out a picture of some hollyhocks, taking his charcoal into his right hand and starting to work on a sketch.

“It means ambition,” Wonshik croaks out and when Jaehwan glances up at him, Wonshik suddenly averts his eyes. “I mean, a hollyhock.”

“They also mean fertility,” Jaehwan says, chuckling at the way Wonshik freezes up. “So it says on Wikipedia, anyway. It’s because they leave behind a disc before they die, so you can plant the seeds contained in it. And, did you know they were used for curing a lot of diseases back in the middle ages?”

Wonshik did, but he listens to Jaehwan go on and on about the medicinal uses of hollyhocks, how they supposedly cured lung diseases and constipation and ulcers and bleeding, how they were said to be able to break up kidney stones and fight lung problems.

He watches Jaehwan draw, trying to look less shameful than he feels while he eyes his appearance. All his tattoo artist acquaintances (most of whom he knows from this particular shop) wear dark clothes and their bodies are covered in tattoos, but Jaehwan is sitting next to him in a simple baby pink T-shirt and stone washed denim shorts, a black choker wrapped tightly around his neck. Wonshik might be thinking in stereotypes, but the only evidence for Jaehwan not minding the ink beneath his skin are the tiny feather just under his pointy left ear, and the small bird on the inner side of his wrist. He looks too delicate for all of this.

“Wonshik?” Jaehwan asks and his question echoes weirdly in Wonshik’s ears, like he’s hearing it while standing in a valley, Jaehwan’s voice bouncing off the surrounding peaks. “Earth to Wonshik,” Jaehwan says, Wonshik’s name rolling off his plush lips like a spell as he smiles slowly, “are you okay?”

“Um, yeah,” Wonshik mumbles and looks up into Jaehwan’s eyes. “Sorry, I’m… sleepy.”

“Maybe we should do it at a different time if you’re tired,” Jaehwan says, his hands falling away from his sketchbook.

“No!” Wonshik exclaims and he feels heat rising in his cheeks as Jaehwan’s ears prick up at the sharp sound. “I mean, I’m fine, can I— can I take a look at it?”

He fingers the edge of the sketchbook and when Jaehwan nods, he pulls it in his lap, eyeing the single hollyhock on it, the petals too realistically frayed for a quick sketch. There are small leaves and some curly tendrils around the flower, making it look a lot more artistic than just a simple image of a plant and Wonshik… he’s not sure if he likes it.

“Isn’t this, well, a little too feminine?” he asks, trying not to sound too rude but still trying to convey his wish for the tendrils and leaves to disappear. “I mean, if it were just the flower itself, without all the… green stuff…” 

“Feminine?” Jaehwan laughs, his chuckles ringing in the air like the soft sounds of a wind chime. He reaches out, his fingers wrapping around Wonshik’s wrist and Wonshik’s eyes almost pop out of his skull at the sudden touch, but Jaehwan won’t pull his warm hand away. “You’re about to have the image of a flower sewn into your skin; if you think the leaves make it more feminine—”

“I’m just saying,” Wonshik huffs, a little miffed from being laughed at, “it looks… cuter, I think, than most of my other tats.”

“I think it’ll look really pretty on your skin,” Jaehwan says, eyes clear and sincere and crinkling at the corners. “Can I just put the stencil on your shoulder blade? And you’ll see if you think it still looks bad—”

“It doesn’t look _bad_ , that’s not what I said, I—”

“—you’ll see if you want the leaves or not, okay?” Jaehwan turns back to the desk, taking out a sheet of transfer paper and a fine tipped pen, pulling the sketchbook out of Wonshik’s grip. “Trust me.”

Wonshik doesn’t know if he shuts his mouth because he hates conflicts or because he’s really curious or simply because Jaehwan’s lips are too pretty as they form the words ‘trust’ and ‘me’, but he stays silent as Jaehwan works.

Wonshik doesn’t realize that Jaehwan is done with the stencil until Jaehwan lets go of the pen, his knobby fingers dropping it on the desktop.

“Could you please…?” Jaehwan motions towards Wonshik’s T-shirt while pulling on a pair of rubber gloves.

“Oh. Yeah.”

He takes the hem between his fingers and suddenly he feels self-conscious; he’s never been too confident about his body, and even though he’s been working out very diligently lately, his muscles starting to get sculpted, he still hasn’t reached his goal and he feels awkward as he pulls his shirt over his head, keeping it in his lap. He hears Jaehwan pull his chair closer to Wonshik’s, spraying the cold disinfectant on Wonshik’s skin, making him hiss.

“Sorry,” Jaehwan says, sounding much like he’s smiling.

He wipes at Wonshik’s skin with a paper towel and then smears something creamy on it, the paper rustling behind his back as Jaehwan presses it against his shoulder blade, his gloved fingertips almost caressing the surface as he tries to even it out.

There are goosebumps on Wonshik’s back even as he feels Jaehwan’s body heat on it, too aware of all the small moles there, thinks, _what if they form a weird shape?_

But Jaehwan doesn’t comment on the moles as he takes the paper off Wonshik’s skin and stands up, saying “I’m done,” as he tugs at Wonshik’s elbow gently, making him stand with him, keeping his fingers on Wonshik’s arm as he guides him to the full body mirror, only letting go of him to shove a smaller makeup mirror into his hand.

“What do you think?” Jaehwan asks, his eyes searching Wonshik’s face as the latter holds up the mirror and alignes it so he can see his own back. The placement is perfect, just how Wonshik wanted, and he imagines the outlines filled with colour: soft purple on the petals and green on the leaves and tendrils, and he takes a deep breath.

“Okay,” he says against his better judgement because this is the first time he’s meeting Jaehwan but the boy is looking up at him expectantly and Wonshik wants to see him smile again. He doesn’t want to hurt Jaehwan and that’s probably stupid, especially that he’s risking the appearance of his own body here, but he has a few cover-up tats already and they look pretty neat. If he doesn’t like it in the end, he can just get it fixed, though obviously not by Jaehwan… “Okay,” he says again. “Let’s do this.”

“Really?” Jaehwan asks, surprised, and when Wonshik lowers the makeup mirror, Jaehwan is beaming up at him, his eyes sparkling with happiness. “It’ll look so beautiful on you, I promise!”

Wonshik grins, sucked in by Jaehwan’s infinitely deep gaze only for a beat before Jaehwan strides back to his working corner, turning around the chair Wonshik sat on a few minutes ago so Wonshik can hunch over the backrest.

“So, Wonshik,” Jaehwan starts while fumbling around on the desk for his tools. “Tell me about yourself.”

Wonshik’s face contorts and he’s happy Jaehwan can’t see it. He went over this with Jaeeun as well, and it was as awkward as a conversation can be, mainly because he’s an awfully dull guy with awfully dull hobbies and even more boring stories-–if he has any real stories, that is.

“I… don’t really have much to tell,” he mumbles and the tattoo machine starts whirring, the first pinprick tearing through his skin, and Wonshik’s muscles tense up, though he knows better than to move. The pain isn’t pleasant but it’s comforting, something Wonshik knows how to handle unlike the fact that he’s sitting with his back to a gorgeous boy who’s probably trying to have small talk with him only because he wants to distract him, not knowing that Wonshik has a sadistic kind of liking for the tattoo machine wounding him.

“Everyone has a story to tell,” Jaehwan mutters, probably concentrating. Wonshik imagines him pursing his lips and that makes him want to squirm, but he stays still.

“I dropped out of university,” Wonshik admits, his heartrate picking up from shame like it always does whenever he brings up the topic. “I dropped out so I can focus on songwriting,” he laughs to ease the tension, but Jaehwan isn’t laughing with him. “It’s not going very well.”

“I think that’s great,” Jaehwan replies quietly, wiping away excess ink and, Wonshik figures, blood. “I wish I had the guts to follow my dreams.”

“What are your dreams?” Wonshik asks and he wants to turn around, wants to see Jaehwan’s eyes sparkle the way they did when Wonshik told him he’d like to get his version of a hollyhock on his skin.

“I’ve been dreaming of becoming a singer since I was small,” Jaehwan says, “but I don’t have enough talent to become successful, so I’m kind of just here, doodling on other people’s bodies.” He suddenly laughs and the tattoo machine stops whirring until his laughter dies down. “Don’t get me wrong, I like doodling on other people’s bodies, but, you know…”

“It’s not what sparks the fire in you,” Wonshik finishes it for him but feels stupid, because it all made a lot more sense in his head. “I mean, that’s how I think of my dream of becoming a popular songwriter, so-–”

“That’s the best way to put it,” Jaehwan says, tearing at Wonshik’s skin again. “Your songs must be amazing if you put such cool stuff into the lyrics.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Wonshik grumbles.

“Absolutely not,” Jaehwan replies. “I’d like to hear your songs someday. Maybe they’ll inspire me enough to pursue my dream. And who knows, if you become a well-known songwriter and I, a well-known singer, we might even work together.”

“That’d be…” Wonshik clears his tight-feeling throat. “That’d be awesome.”

Jaehwan doesn’t say more but Wonshik thinks he’s probably smiling, because Jaehwan apparently smiles a lot and Wonshik, a brooding, always negative and anxious person, thinks it’s like a breath of fresh air seeing Jaehwan smile so easily at everything.

Jaehwan finishes up the tattoo without saying anything apart from ‘almost done’s and ‘just one more line’s and Wonshik endures, feeling a little stiff when Jaehwan finally tells him he can stand up and take a look at it.

Wonshik stands in front of the full body mirror again with the smaller one in his hands and Jaehwan is watching him expectantly once more, chewing on his lower lip nervously, looking smaller than before. The flower is incredibly vivid on Wonshik’s shoulder blade, like he stuck a real one there, with the leaves and all. It’s beautifully done, not quite like a tattoo but like a painting and Wonshik tries to imagine it without the green stuff, but can’t quite form the picture in his head–-it looks perfect.

“It looks perfect,” he whispers and glances down at Jaehwan, at his big, shiny eyes forming crescent moons and at the way he pulls his shoulders up to his ears like a puppy awaiting treats. “Looks perfect,” Wonshik says again and loses control over himself, placing a hand on Jaehwan’s cheek and kissing his smile that starts faltering under his mouth. Jaehwan’s lips are warm and soft but they close on the kiss and he pulls back with fluttery eyelids.

“You could’ve asked me out on a coffee date first,” he says and he probably sees the embarrassment on Wonshik’s face because he starts laughing, patting Wonshik’s hand on his cheek. Wonshik quickly pulls it back.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to–- I just, you–- the tattoo’s really pretty and I–-” he rambles but then Jaehwan presses his index finger to Wonshik’s mouth.

“Shh,” he says, grinning. “I’ll tape you up and we can go get that coffee.”

Wonshik feels like he’ll puke an entire freaking rainbow, his insides turning into knots that can’t possibly be unravelled, not by him, anyway.

Jaehwan puts the protecting foil on the fresh tattoo and fixes it with some tape, putting on a pair of cheap black plastic sunglasses while Wonshik gets dressed, putting on his own similarly cheap black plastic sunglasses. Jaehwan must find the matching style amusing because he smiles again, curling his pinkie around Wonshik’s and pulling him towards the front door of the shop.

“What the hell?” Sanghyuk asks indignantly.

“I have no more guests for today,” Jaehwan says, not even stopping to listen. “I’m done for today, Sanghyuk-ah!”

“But–- Wonshik, you haven’t even paid yet!” Sanghyuk yells, but then the door closes behind Wonshik and they can’t hear Sanghyuk’s protests anymore.

“You can pay me in coffee,” Jaehwan says, tugging Wonshik forward, walking quickly, maybe so Sanghyuk won’t be able to catch up even if he wants to chase them. “It’s going to be around 25 cups of secret menu items at Starbucks.”

Wonshik barks out a laugh and Jaehwan looks at him surprised, arching his perfectly shaped eyebrows. Wonshik stops in his tracks and yanks Jaehwan back with him by the pinkie, fidgeting awkwardly.

“Does that mean,” he starts, “that you’re asking me out on 25 coffee dates?”

“I also accept cash, coffee coupons, and I once drank 18 cups a day, so don’t get ahead of yourself,” Jaehwan chirps and then smiles kindly at Wonshik. “You songwriters are so mushy.”

Wonshik wants to retort but then Jaehwan stands on tiptoe and presses a short kiss to his cheek, continuing on their way, pulling Wonshik after him.

Wonshik laughs again, the knots untangling inside him as he follows Jaehwan.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm no tattoo expert but i did watch miami ink a lot when i was a teen *botches a wink*
> 
> this whole thing was written and typeset on my phone and writing html tags on a phone is really tough and annoying so pls excuse me if the thing looks weird;;
> 
>  
> 
> feel free to talk to me about any of my stories or just vixx in general on [tumblr](http://hongbab.tumblr.com/), [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hongbab) or [aff](http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1061753) ♡ please support me on [ko-fi.com](https://ko-fi.com/hongbab) if you can ♡


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